Now or Never! (2024) User Reviews

It hurts you physically if you are hungarian

[gazt90 · 14 March 2024]

It fulfills the self serving, megalomaniacal desires of an untalented man.

The actors tried their best, but the script was so bad you can be the greatest actor ever, you cannot build something good from pure garbage.

One of the greatest event in the hungarian history, which literally makes every single hungarian proud it became a dumb class Z action movie with the overused clichés we saw million times already in modern cinematography.

The movie just wasnt able to pay the respect the revolutionists and this great event deserves.

We have lot of skillful professionals in the industry, maybe some day there will be a remake which wont serve the greediness and selfishness of a few but pays tribute to our great and brave ancestors.

Looking forward to it.

Funny, adventurous and touching - the characters become everyday people instead of the cold characters in the history books

[LLBUD · 10/10 · 16 March 2024]

The film is funny, adventurous and really touching - the characters become everyday people instead of the cold characters in the history books. A wonderful way to remember one of our nation's most significant days, which we celebrate every year on this day. The film is historically faithful, yet woven into an exciting action-adventure story, which is not a recounting of events like a history book, but an exciting story that can convey the atmosphere of the revolution, the feeling of life that time, and turn it into a really exciting, beautiful film. It has a very beautiful visual world, an authentic representation of the city, the streets, the people, at that time. Funny and serious acting with deep emotions by excellent actors.

Not nearly as bad as they say

[bagizsombor · 7/10 · 16 March 2024]

Many people will claim this movie is utter garbage because it's budget was 6 billion HUF which is roughly 18 million dollars, and that the movie makers stole most of the budget, or that this is a blatant misinterpretation of histrory and government propaganda.

Now I implore everyone curious about the movie to watch it with an open mind. Yes we will all have opinions on the budget or the government really pushing this one as the big hungarian blockbuster and best movie ever, which it's obviously isn't.

The cast is solid, although some of the actors playing the young revolutionaries were a bit over the top for me. This is especially true for the protagonist Petofi, who is a bit shallow but nobody is unenjoyable and the interections between him and the side charachters was the best part of the movie for me. On the antagonist side the perfomrances are better, the Meyer-Farkasch interections are top notch, and there is even a bit of development for some of the antagonists.

The action scenes are serviceable, some of the cuts were weird but not distracting. The music is really, really good, giving each scene the impact it deserves, the lighting, VFX and set dresssing all come together to really try and pull you into the scenes.

Now this movie isn't accurate to history and this isn't a problem I think. This wasn't claiming to be the most spot on historical movie, this was a movie inspired by history (like Metal Gear Solid or Assassin's Creed)but had it's on spin on the events and I think it's a neat idea to tell a story like this.

Overall this isn't a great movie but it isn't a terrible one either. If you are interested in history go ahead and watch it, form your own opinions and do not listen to either of the herd mentalities.

Incompetency at its finest

[mezzi7 · 1/10 · 14 March 2024]

I don't know where to start. Really really bad acting - as usual, totally no historical background check, cheap game of thrones knock off music, I kinda also get a western movie vibe off it. It's a big big mess, if we compare this movie to a house, than it's a gold coated mansion which was built on a swamp from cheap materials and has no electricity, no water whatsoever. It makes the news for one day, then it is forgotten forever rotting in the overgrown bushes. You can see that they poured tons of money in it, but still managed to create an empty vessel of a film. This is so sad. I am so sad. This era would have deserved a quality movie, not this... thing.

Yikes!

[mageonlinegame · 1/10 · 15 March 2024]

What a torture!

Obviously, the best part of this nonsense is when the credits start rolling. Hungary has lost its power over the last 15 years with our young and educated escaping this regime, this movie clearly shows the intellectual depth the ruling 2/3 is capable for...

If the film were done well, a revolution would start against the ruling party, and this is the film that the original Petofi and those around him would like.

Those who cried... I totally get you. The waste of money sunk under this title could be much better used in healthcare or education, to name a few.

Save your eyes/soul; stay away!

Tribute to the VHS action movie

[GYMacs · 1/10 · 14 March 2024]

Undoubtedly an excellent piece of work!

Every single second of it brings back the fight n' shooter movies of my childhood.

Everyone knows the stories of well-known historical heroes, so the screenwriter doesn't have much to do anymore.

According to some, the dialogues are weak, but a true fan knows exactly that it's unnecessary to waste time between two fights.

It's definitely a 10/9 movie, however Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris are still missing for the 10/10 score.

Something else also reminds me of my childhood. Back then, the cinema was full of students, with whom the government watched the current Soviet propaganda films, now bored students made up the majority of the audience.

Unfortunately, young people are no longer fans of the action movies of the golden age of VHS.

My 12 points on why this movie is rather NEVER

[theredravn · 1/10 · 15 March 2024]

As a hungarian person I'm honestly embarrased that this is how the movie about one of our most important cultural figure and event turned out. The whole thing is very fustrating, since it could have been such an interesting movie about a resolution that was won with the power of the people without any bloodshed, but noooooo... Around 6 milliard hungarian forints and we get this garbage. I have never been this angry at a movie before. So much wasted potential...

Disclaimer: The actors, actresses did nothing bad, they were honestly the best part of the movie. It's just that they weren't give much to work with. Also, the costume and the set designers did an amazing job as well.

The 12 points: 1. The whole movie lacks all around any kind of emotional impact. Even when the dramatic music plays, you only feel nothing but confusion.

2. The story doesn't make sense. Scences just follow eachother without any connection or impact.

3. If you don't know anything about hungarian history, the movie is unwatchable. With out context, the charahters are nameless faces and things just happen without a real reason.

4. Most people don't even get a namerop or a proper introduction in the story, let alone a personality.

5. All most all scenes of a certain madeup plotline could have been cutband it would have shortened the movie by more than an hour.

6. The action scenes are completly out of place in this story. Most of them are also pointless and completly removable.

7. The scenes that copy famous movies are too much and the feel very odd in this story. This is a historical movie, not a superhero movie.

8. Trying to make this an action full film is somewhat destroying the point of the original historical event.

9. There is no charachter development and nothing that helps the watcher connect to any of the charahters.

10. The whole thing didn't have a message or any kind of wisdom. Despite being a very important event that decided the fate of our country's history, this felt like a soulless fictional retelling.

11. The hungarian voices sounded like a bad dub recorded after the movie even though the actors are hungarian. The voices also didn't match the actors lips in some places.

12. The CGI was a bit messy sometimes, but the resolution was more distracting. During some scenes everything looked as if you were watching a film someone uploaded to a pirate site.

Awkward on every level

[dremakdalma · 2/10 · 15 March 2024]

The creators of this movie just don't understand the meaning of the Hungarian Revolution. The hungarians celebrate it, because 15th of March happened WITHOUT ANY BLOODSHED OR FIGHT, where the people were able to speak up and demand reforms without any problems or accidents. This movie was like confusion combined with awkwardness and cringiness, because of the bad camera angles (Petofi looked up sometimes like a psychopath or some action scenes were rushed) or the unnecessary storylines (Farkasch, the assassin's motivation or background story was completely missing and it was a bit mess or the waiter who firstly shown up as a spy, than saves the main character for whatever reason and at the end the assassin kills him when they should be on the "same" side). They changed so many things actually, that I felt not once, that they try to rewrite history for those who don't know much about this era.

What I don't like in this movie specifically is that they put Petofi on a pedestal, that "he is our fiery poet" or "he started the revolution" etc, keeping the other characters in the background, like "they were there next to Petofi" and I hated that, because they were equally part of this and in there own ways, all contributed to this event. But one of the worst part was how they butchered Júlia Szendrey, like she went up against the villain, alone, for what? It doesn't made any sense and I think it was just cheap conflict.

There were two things that I liked actually in this movie: the music was really beautiful, I loved it but it was overpowering sometimes to cause "distraction", (in my opinion to forget how awful this film was). And the next best thing was Tibor Fehér himself, who played Pál Vasvári. He was hilarious, I always laughed on his jokes and he had great timing with them.

Overall I think that this movie could have been so much better if they would show the revolution from a normal, average person's perspective what it meant for him/her 15th of March (there are lots of diaries or letters from this era they could have figure out something, if they wanted to). This movie felt like a lazy trying to "spice up" something that wasn't needed to be and at the same time skipping lots of, historically accurate information, that would have been better, if they would have been there (like when the revolution happened, at the same time, in Bratislava, Kossuth and Széchenyi fought for the hungarian reforms in the parliament when they heard, what happened in Buda-Pest or that they actually won, when in April the first responsible government was created, even it was a short victory). In my opinion this movie humiliated and dishonored those people's memory and work, who were there and fought for a better Hungary.

A movie that should not even be here

[Giii-eeeM · 16 March 2024]

Even if this was an Oscar winning production (which it isn't), due the fact that it was made of government subsidies given to a crony instead of real, talented artists on merit, it should not even be on IMBD. This is the equivalent of rating a tampon commercial produced and paid by P&G. Most of Hungary's best talents are working in other countries now. Too bad because the subject of the movie deserves better treatment.

The movie itself uses lots of violence to depict a revolution that was essentially peaceful. It also uses as a premise the use of the Hungarian language for the revolution which is misleading as Budapest was 80% German speaking at the time.

In conclusion, good tax payer money was wasted (again) just to glorify the self serving interests of some government cronies. This project (I am not calling it a movie on purpose) does not deserve to be here, amongst real movies made by real artists.

Excellent, well done movie

[tnemeth-79784 · 10/10 · 19 March 2024]

The movie was really amazing. I especially liked the music, the song that they sang while marching over the bridge was my favorite. Composer Robert Gulya did an excellent job. My favorite character in the movie was Vasvári. He is a bit over the top, but likeable.

Based on the audience reaction in the movie theater (many applauded as the end credits rolled), this will be a very popular film.

Some may find the fictitious story that was added to the historical events a bit too much, but I thought it was well done and represented the sentiments and atmosphere of the times.

All in all, I would highly recommend the movie. It will surprise you and entertain you, even if you don't know anything about Hungarian history.

Petofi deserves more

[bezbol · 2/10 · 15 March 2024]

What a waste of money... a film about a fiction story in the backdrop of Hungarian history. The makers tried hard to insert an action movie in between real events, but it simply didn't merge well. Tons of Inconsistencies like burning and looting all the.printing presses of Pest, then printing the famous poem Nemzeti Dal 50 seconds later on those very presses makes us think that the script writers cannot cope with the dilemmas they inserted into the storyline. How to prevent the deadly barrage of grenadiers? Just tell their General that they don't really want bloodshed. The main character Petofi has way less charisma than most of the supporting actors. There were some intended jokes but it was so subtle that the movie audience didn't really got it. One star, however for the tireless symphonic orchestra playing full time, full epic mode trying to create an atmosphere that might save the movie. I wish them some tea break in every 30 minutes or so.

This movie is probably for teens without any clue of Hungarian history and/or human nature.

it didn't come through

[antiorbanog · 1/10 · 15 March 2024]

Sorry, I was hoping for more. This movie is more of a turbocharged costume marvel than a historical adventure. I expected more and especially a more faithful following of real events. When will we understand that a movie story is original. If it is based on real events, it should be better aligned with them. If it's made up, then write at the beginning that it's just a made up story. But then the names and places should be transformed accordingly.

That not really!

If the children taken out of school form an image of the events of 1948 based on this, it is not appropriate to grade their paper!

What did I just watch

[davidnemeth-56153 · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

Watching this film was an experience I can only describe as bewildering. From the onset, it became painfully clear that the individuals on screen couldn't quite be called actors, not in the traditional sense at least. Their performances felt so disconnected and awkward, it was as if they were reading their lines for the first time, live. And I sat there, hoping for a plot to emerge, something, anything, that could tie these disjointed scenes together. But alas, it was not to be. The storyline, if one could even call it that, was absent, leaving me to wonder if the script had been lost on the day of filming.

It's not just that the movie was bad; it's that it felt like a mockery of the concept of cinema itself. Calling it a movie feels generous, a courtesy it scarcely deserves. It's a harsh reminder that filmmaking is an art that requires not just a vision but the ability to execute that vision with some degree of competence. This film, sadly, lacked both.

I wanted to find something redeemable, a silver lining, but as the credits rolled, I felt only relief that it was over. It pains me to say it, but this is one of those rare instances where the collective efforts of everyone involved might best be forgotten. It's not often I'd advise against watching a movie, as I believe there's usually something to gain, even from the worst of films. But in this case, I'd say your time is far better spent elsewhere. This wasn't just a miss; it was a misadventure into what movie-making should never become.

KaKálmán's new stool sample

[csedohunor · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

This honoured individual blessed us with a new movie made by our tax money which is truly a masterpiece of how useless and untalented people are at Fidesz even when given insane amount of money and resources. Will it matter? No, because they will somehow stir any media that criticizes their unwatchable face and "art" that they vomited in front of us to enjoy. This is purely to funnel money into their pockets and claim that they've done something and doing a darn good job at that because hundreds of thousands will vote for them even when they can barely afford to buy bread and have never seen anyone else besides their neighbour but somehow are afraid of foreigners.

Huge leap in quality

[peteraron-64161 · 10/10 · 18 March 2024]

It is very sad to see the film being pulled for political reasons.

Coming back to the film, every Hungarian knows from childhood what happened on 15 March. Nevertheless, I was able to get excited throughout the film, those who came to laugh at the film were silent even when the subtitles appeared.

All of this was topped off by beautiful period visuals, great acting by young and talented actors and the sublime nature of the subject chosen.

It's very nice to see that they didn't copy the Hollywood style for the sake of quality, you can feel that the film is European and Hungarian. By mixing these three styles, the film was able to create an excellent film, I can recommend everyone to watch it.

Not worth even 1 score

[tastelesstongue · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

Movie checks out everything wrong: Tasteless historical misconceptions, bad or confusing music/vibe for the scenes, acting is as most Hungarian movies. Spending 6B Huf from taxpayers money for a movie like this and having this bad result is a sin itself. And no, it's not because who did it, it's because what it is. And it is not worth your money. Cheap action movie tricks in a set like this?

If I could, I would give 0/10. This era is something to be proud of if you are a Hungarian, but still I had secondhand shame all through. I hope foreigners do not see this movie as a Hungarian movie because we can produce better than this.

Chaos instead of a glorious revolution

[degmawi · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

Seeing the film, apart from the obvious falsification of history, the flatness of the plot and the boring characters, we can mostly be sad because those people who, due to the grace of fate, can make films from wealth, think so little of the audience and of us Hungarians. It's as if the creators don't think the audience is intelligent enough to understand something more complex. It also doesn't help that the character who is the most important from the point of view of the film was hit the least: Petofi, played by Nándor Berettyán, is the most disliked character in the film. The audience would have expected more from the film that tells the story of the most glorious historical event.

Overpriced hungarian storytelling

[szacsoka · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

Philip Rákay got a lot of money to create a good movie and he tried. In this small country, we have good creators, but he is a propagandist.

In 2015: Son of Saul. 01:47 mins and the cost: 450m HuF (4m HuF/min) In 2016: Sing. 00:25 mins and the cost: 10m HuF (400.000 HuF/min)

This movie is 02:15 mins and the cost: 6564m HuF (48.6m HuF/min). We can spend a lot, but it is not correlate with the quality. The acting was bad. The scripts were empty. The history has been changed. This is a boring movie with a few good episodes.

This story required a much more better movie because it is a very significant event in Hungarian history.

Life is suffering

[okdokialki · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

All young filmmakers should watch this, just to know what NOT to do when making a movie. The acting is consistently terrible, when they tried to say something dramatic I laughed out loud. They act like they are aliens pretending to be humans, U can imagine it would be hard trying to nake this script work, most of them don't even try. The characters are a joke, we don't get to know anything about them, they fit into generic hollywood movie archetypes like "the funny one", they don't go through any character development, they are the same person they were when the film started. The music is constantly blaring in every scene, and it never stops being annoying, my ears actually hurt when I left the theater. The only good thing is the set design, but its hard to focus on it since everything else around it is so bad. Watch if you hate yourself.

Its so bad , people don't want to see it even for free.

[nagya-75620 · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

Actualy the facts Tell the story. The movie is indeed so bad, that none is wanting to see it. At this moment it can be seen free of charge. Yet , none wants to see it. A few payd actors do give this movie a higher Than 1 star rating , but the reality is , its not even worth zero stars.

But lets see the good side. If ever you are disapointed by a movie , Just think about thisone. And presto , you will see, it could had been worse. Way worse.

Ironic, but this is the only way this movie can make some sense. A lot of money was put in it , a lot of absolutely wasted efforth. The end result is anything but coherent. Allso its not historicly accurate .

Falsification of history

[rkurdig · 1/10 · 17 March 2024]

It is a too expensive movie that will not come back on the screen at all. Unpretentious solutions, amateur acting and cinematography. It feels that the whole attraction was made for order, which will soon be forgotten. I don't recommend it to anyone, just waste of time. The story of the movie is not true so we can not say it is a historical one. Forced story and visual world, you don't feel excitement at all, you can't imagine yourself in the story, because everything is a work of money. Boring actors and visual solutions, I couldn't wait for it to end, but I couldn't watch it. This is typically the movie that no one will remember. Maximum that it was terrible.

The most expensive propaganda movie with falsified history

[bwana21 · 3/10 · 16 March 2024]

For the price of this film, four really good historical movies could have been made. You could also make a good action film about 1848 and not just about the fight for independence. It could even have been about Commander-in-Chief von Lederer, who in May of 1848 actually used a gun to break up the demonstration held against him in Buda.

Contrary to what is shown in the film as fiction, like fighting with knives and guns, shootings, jumping out the window, pregnant action heroine...you can't make this up.

This much nonsense and ahistoricity can only be condensed into more than two hours on purpose.

Congratulations to you All!

[tamasbarbara-15581 · 10/10 · 17 March 2024]

Just watched the London Premier and I can tell you it was a brilliant act, beautiful pictures and exciting adventure. The Crew received a touching standing ovation. Everyone enjoyed their time in the cinema.

It is not the true historical story but the baseline is. Learn your history lessons before you watch it to understand the stroyline.

Great and strong characters in the movie, you can feel they want the change.

The actors are awesome and you can see true chemistry between them. The song they all chanting marching on bridge is beautiful, moving. Highly recommended! It was a pleasure! Please watch.

Dumb and boring

[shakeroyal · 2/10 · 18 March 2024]

There was potential in the base concept, but it's like they weren't even trying.

The visuals and sounds were OK, which is, unfortunately, not evident in Hungarian films. That's where the positives end.

The script is dumb in the extrem, like if it was written by a 5 year-old child. The protagonist is a boring Gary Stue personality, the comic relief character is basically a simplified Johnny Bravo.

The main antagonist adds nothing to the film. It's embarrassing how he steals screen time with the clumsy benny hilly show he puts on.

The rest of the characters were largely uninteresting, the rest of the story is simply dumb and boring.

This is not Petöfi

[doncseczakos · 1/10 · 20 March 2024]

It is outrageous for two reasons: because of the falsification of Hungarian history and because of Sandor Petöfi's person. In the film, it is practically claimed that in 1848 it was forbidden to use the Hungarian language in Hungary. The filmmakers don't know the Hungarian history. In 1844 the Habsburg Emperor signed the law about the official language of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungarian became the official language instead of Latin. The real goals of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution were: the independence of Hungary, besides that basic social and political changes.

The second terrible element of the movie: the falsified personality of Sandor Petöfi. The works of a poet or writer are the reflection of their personality. Everyone knows based on Petöfi's poems, what Sandor Petöfi was really like. Everyone in Hungary knows that passion, zeal and courage lived in Petöfi. This Petöfi in the movie 'Now or never!' is a hesitant, diffident figure. His actions are also completely incomprehensible. This figure is in complete contrast to the real Petöfi. I am convinced that the function of this doddering, charmer Petöfi in this movie is to lure teens to the cinemas.